Sweet Awakening (Complete Story) by Andrea O'Hanlon

Sweet Awakening Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The alarm clock goes off at 5:30 am. I roll over to hit the button to shut the horrible machine off. When did morning get here so fast? I rolled back on to my back and realized I was naked. The last thing I remember I was in the bath. I must have fell asleep after I got out of my bath. I was having a fantastic sexy dream about Paul. I rarely drink, so it doesn't take much to get drunk. I get up and get ready to shower. I text Kelsey about what product was left from yesterday. My head feels clouded I am hoping the shower help clear the fog. An hour later I am ready to go to the shop. Some of last night was coming back. I am almost positive Paul came over in the middle of the night. I can't remember the whole conversation. Just that Paul explained why the contracts. I get a text from Kelsey telling me we are out of the chocolate with caramel. That my sample of the Dark chocolate with pumpkin cheesecake filling was a hit. Customer want to know when they will be out. I opened the front door to a dozen pink and white roses to the face. The delivery women had her hand raised to knock. The woman smiles sweetly and handed the roses over with a card. The women turned and walks away.

I opened the card; it read. "My dearest Christine, I cherished every moment with you. I have done nothing like our midnight rendezvous before. So please don't think I came over just for that last night. I hope you got rest last night. I am sorry I didn't stay with you. An emergency call came in an hour after we fell asleep. I am hoping you will give me the honor of your company for dinner tomorrow night at a place of your choosing. Call or text me with your reply. Eagerly waiting for your response. "At the bottom of the card he signed it and put his cell phone number. It wasn't a dream! It was all real. I have never slept with a man on the same day I met him. He probably thinks I am a slut now. Oh no, how could I have done that. I text Lisa to meet me at the shop at her earliest convenience.

I arrive at my shop at 7 am. I don't open till 10 am so I have time to make sweets. I restock the shelf with what I have in the freezer. There is never much product left at the end of the day. So I make most of my sweets fresh daily. I am always happy to come in early to start fresh every day. Knowing all my customers enjoy them so much.

My best friend Lisa walks in at 9 am with a dozen pink and white roses with another card. This one read "Thinking of you." "You have an admirer Christine. Who is sending you roses?" I take the flower. This time then came with a vase. All I need was to add a little water. Lisa follows me to the back. As I put water in the vase "I had a date with Jacobs's boss last night." My best friend's eyes got huge. "You had a date last night! You didn't tell me. What do you mean by Jacob's boss? Like his supervisor or something?" "No, more like the owner of the whole company of Global Enterprise." "YOU WENT OUT WITH MR. JENNINGS! PAUL JENNINGS! The hottest and most secretive man in the USA?" I put the roses on the counter and turn toward her. "You heard of him?" "Of course I have there was an article about the top 20 hottest men in America in the magazine SPECTACULAR. Paul was in the top 10 of that article but not much is known about the man. He keeps to himself. How did you get a date?" Paul was in the top 10. I couldn't help a smile. I can't imagine secretive Paul enjoyed that at all. "Jacob works for his company. DO NOT harass Jacob about his job. Jacob set me up for a blind date. Before you ask that's all I can say. I signed a confidential contract not to talk about the date." "WHY, would you sign something like that?" I smiled at my friend concern. "Like you said Paul is a secretive man, and he wants to go out on 2nd date with me. I had you come here to talk about what happen after midnight, but I am wondering if I should? You may gossip about it and get me into trouble."

Lisa likes to gossip and does as often as she can. Lisa owns the coffee shop right next door. Her shop is her favorite place to gossip. Lisa likes to bake. She originally opened a bakery, but decide coffee shop make for better gossip. Therefore Lisa changed her bakery into a coffee shop where people can come sit and talk. She still does specialty orders for wedding and birthdays. Lisa gives me puppy dog's eye. I really wanted to tell her about last night too. "Swear to me on our friendship. That you won't tell. I am serious. I really like this man and don't want to ruin it." Lisa and I have been friends since preschool. If I made her swear on our friendship. She would never ever tell a soul. "I swear on our friendship I will never tell another soul." I told Lisa how a dream wasn't a dream. As I told my friend about my midnight rendezvous, she got a goofy grin on her face.

"About damn time Christine." I should have expected this response. Lisa has been trying to get me on a date for the last year. The first year after my husband Scott died. Lisa left me alone to grieve. During the second year she tried to convince me to just look around and start to socialize again and stop hiding in my sweets. Since it's been three years, she says I need to start moving forward to find happiness. "These are the second set of rose I have gotten this morning. I am feeling embarrassed at my shameless actions last night." "Are you sure you can't tell me about the dinner? I am curious how you caught the most secretive man." "Yes, I am sure I can't tell you about the dinner date. The contract was very precise about what the consequence were if I told a single person." "Wow that is a guarded person. You will call him back correct?" I turn around and go back to melting chocolate. I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know." I didn't turn around.

"Come on Christine. Don't you like the guy? You must have some sort of chemistry. You slept with him." Lisa had a point. I am attracted to Paul a lot. I keep replaying seeing his honey-colored eyes when I open the door to him kissing me. I turn towards her with hot chocolate bowl in my hands. "How can he want a woman who throws herself at him on the first date? I don't know how he could want a slut to go to a dinner with him and the mayor." Lisa punched me in the shoulder. I dumped some hot chocolate on my hand, which caused me to drop it. Hot chocolate splashed up her pants leg. Lisa ignored her pants. "You are not a slut. You don't sleep with everyone. You are actually the most picky person I know when choosing who to sleep with." "I know but..." Lisa cut me off with a wave of her hand. "No buts. You are smart, beautiful and deserving of happiness. Text the man and set up a date before dinner tonight. Or when I come over for dinner tonight, I am taking your phone and making the plans for you. I suggest Sunset for dinner tomorrow. It's a nice quiet little restaurant that isn't popular yet. Has fantastic food." Lisa turns and walks out of the shop.

I looked up the address for Sunset. I had already programed Paul's number into my phone. "This is Christine. I will meet you for our 2nd rendezvous at 5pm. The address is 2105 10th St." I finish up the sweets for the day as I wait for his reply. My phone text notification went off as I was staring outside thinking of what to wear tomorrow. "I can't wait. See you at 5pm." the rest of my work day went by fast. Lisa brought German Chocolate cake over to have with dinner. After dinner Lisa and I decide what I will wear for my date, it didn't take long to break open a bottle of champagne and talk the night away.